The "Middle East and Terrorism" Blog was created in order to supply information about the implication of Arab countries and Iran in terrorism all over the world. Most of the articles in the blog are the result of objective scientific research or articles written by senior journalists.

From the Ethics of the Fathers: "He [Rabbi Tarfon] used to say, it is not incumbent upon you to complete the task, but you are not exempt from undertaking it."

?php
>

Friday, December 18, 2015

A proposal to admit 10,000 Syrian refugees to the United States has
ignited a bitter debate in Washington, but more than 10 times that
number of people from the embattled country have quietly come to America
since 2012, according to figures obtained by FoxNews.com.

Some 102,313 Syrians were granted admission to the
U.S. as legal permanent residents or through programs including work,
study and tourist visas from 2012 through August of this year, a period
which roughly coincides with the devastating civil war that still
engulfs the Middle Eastern country. Experts say any fears that
terrorists might infiltrate the proposed wave of refugees from United
Nations-run camps should be dwarfed by the potential danger already
here.

“The sheer number of people arriving on all kinds of
visas and with green cards, and possibly U.S. citizenship, makes it
impossible for our counterterrorism authorities to keep track of them
all, much less prevent them from carrying out attacks or belatedly try
to deport them,” said Jessica Vaughan of the Center for Immigration
Studies.

Numbers obtained from the U.S. Customs and Border
Protection show 60,010 Syrian visa holders have entered the U.S. since
2012, including 16,245 this year through August. Additional numbers
provided by a Congressional source showed another 42,303 Syrians were
granted citizenship or green cards during the same period.

"It is highly unlikely that the 102,313 Syrians who
were admitted over the past three years were effectively vetted," said
spokesman Ira Mehlman, of the Federation for American Immigration
Reform. "Even in countries where we have a strong diplomatic presence,
the sheer volume of background checks being carried out precludes the
kind of thorough vetting that is necessary."

The Syrians being admitted are coming directly from
their homeland, usually through the U.S. visa program, as opposed to the
refugees President Obama is seeking to take in through U.N.-run refugee
camps. Most have secured legal entry before they arrive.

"Refugees are part of the admitted category," said
Jaime Ruiz, spokesman for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. "Their
cases are approved prior to arriving into the U.S."

Those who escaped Syria’s grinding civil war, which
has killed an estimated 300,000, and made it to the U.S. are more likely
to be those with the money and means to access the U.S. immigration
bureaucracy, say experts. But even that system is susceptible to fraud.

Syrian
refugees wait for mattresses, blankets and other supplies, and to be
assigned to tents at the Zaatari Syrian refugees camp in Mafraq, near
the Syrian border with Jordan.
(AP)

President Obama’s proposal raised immediate concerns
that ISIS, which vowed to infiltrate refugee camps, could use forged
documents to enter the U.S. White House assurances that refugees would
be carefully screened met with renewed skepticism after it was revealed
that terrorist Tashfeen Malik obtained a fiancée visa despite notable
red flags. Malik, who together with her husband killed 14 and wounded 21
in a terror attack in San Bernardino, Calif., Dec. 2, listed a phony
Pakistani address and reportedly had a history of posting jihadist
messages on social media platforms - although FBI Director James Comey
disputed that on Wednesday.

Malik’s entry into the U.S., combined with so many
Syrians already here, is even more concerning than the proposed
refugees, according to Fred Burton, of the global intelligence firm
Stratfor.

"I'm more fearful of those currently inside the U.S.
predisposed to strike locally as with the San Bernardino model," Burton
said. “I think it's reasonable to assume that the U.S. government ran
the minimum intelligence traces required at the time of entry."

Mehlman said the same concerns raised in regard to
the refugees – mainly that no reliable documents can be issued in a
country in complete meltdown – apply to the Syrians already here.

"All civil order has collapsed, and meaningful
background checks are impossible,” Mehlman said. “Instead, we rely on
cross-checking databases. However, many people with ties to terrorist
groups are not in any databases, which means there is no way we can
identify them before they arrive here."

A government official who expressed astonishment at
such large immigration numbers from a relatively small country, said
approximately half are legal permanent residents and the remainder came
here on visas, the latter of which remains a point of contentious
concern.

Screening of all immigrants and refugees must be
tightened, said Rep. Mike McCaul, chairman of the House Homeland
Security Committee.

"This administration has forbid our front line
security professionals from more broadly incorporating social media
information into the visa application process, something that might have
kept this attacker out of our country," said McCaul, R-Texas. "We need
more robust vetting and screening of all visa applicants.”

Additional data obtained from CBP found that while
five Syrians have been apprehended in 2014 and another five in 2015
attempting to cross over the southern border from Mexico, the northern
border escapes public and political scrutiny. In 2014 eight Syrians were
apprehended by Border Patrol attempting to cross into the U.S. from
Canada. Since 2011, 1,229 Syrians have been granted entry from Canada.Joseph J. KolbSource: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2015/12/16/as-lawmakers-clash-over-refugees-syrian-immigration-quietly-tops-100000-since.html?intcmp=hpbt1 Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.